Insured Losses from U.S. Catastrophes Total $52B

Insured losses stemming from natural disasters in the United States in 2018 totaled $52.3 billion, down from $78 billion in 2017. That’s according to Munich Re, a reinsurance company based in Munich, Germany, and reported on the website of the Insurance Information Institute.

Total losses, however, were estimated at $81.9 billion in 2018.

Wildfires, heat waves and droughts, with $18 billion in insured losses, accounted for 34% of U.S. insured losses in 2018, the Insurance Information Institute said. Tropical cyclones accounted for another 30% of insured losses ($15.6 billion), followed by severe thunderstorm losses, 27% ($14.1 billion) of the 2018 insured losses.

Winter storms and cold waves caused $3 billion in insured losses, floods and flash floods totaled $1.2 billion in insured losses, and earthquakes and other geophysical events accounted for the rest of 2018’s natural disaster losses.

Natural Catastrophe Losses In The United States, 2018
(Based on perils, as of March 2019)

^*In billions of U.S. dollars.
^**Defined as ongoing drought condition without loss estimation for the half year
Sources: Insurance Information Institute and Munich Re